This chapter will be the shortest yet. Sorry about that, but it was necessary. Anyway, please continue to read and review.

The very embarrassed Po's belly was wedged in the hole for five whole minutes before Tigress managed to extricate him.

"Thanks." Po muttered as he brushed the water from the lower half of his body.

"Your welcome." Tigress smirked. "Let's go get that key."

After their near death experience in the first corridor, Po and Tigress were very slow and cautious as they walked down the wider tunnel made entirely of marble. Neither of them spoke as they walked, instead keeping a sharp eye and ear out for any more unexpected traps.

It wasn't long before they reached the end of the corridor. Instead of a door leading into another room, a hole in the floor lay right at the end, full to the brim with clear water.

"Looks like there's another room in there." Tigress said as she peered intensely into the water. "Stay here, and I'll check it out."

She had just taken a deep breath when Po suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her back from the hole.

"Po, wha-"

"Tigress, what the heck are you doing?" Po glared at her furiously, keeping a tight grip on her arm. "Let go, Po!" Tigress snapped, and attempted to wrench herself free. Po's fingers didn't slip an inch.

"Tigress, you should never swim alone!" Po would have raised his voice higher, but a certain comment that Tigress had made during their earlier argument stopped him. "What if you get into trouble while you're down there, and I don't know about it?"

Tigress opened her mouth to retort, but hesitated. Po was absolutely right. Now was not the time to go solo.

As for Po himself, watching Tigress nearly die right in front of him had shaken the panda far more than he had ever expected it would. A few minutes ago, as Tigress had been trying to pull him from the first hole, Po had promised himself that if he could help it, he would never let Tigress go through something like that again.

"Alright." Tigress sighed after several more seconds of staring at each other. "I'll just take a quick dive and get a look of the room. Then we'll both swim in together. I'll come back in five seconds, I promise."

Po narrowed his eyes, considering the plan. After a moment, he slowly released his grip on her arm.

"Five seconds." She repeated, then took a deep breath and leapt into the water, disappearing from view.

Po held his own breath in anxiety and waited.

He breathed again when Tigress reemerged a second early.

"What's the report?" He asked, crouching down so he and Tigress were at near-equal level.

"Just a simple room." She said as she treaded water. "There's a huge mirror covering one whole wall, but other than that it's a dead end."

"Move along, I'm coming in."

Not wanting to splash his friend, Po sat down on the very edge of the hole and gently slid his body into the water.

"On the count of three, we'll dive down together and take a closer look." Said Tigress. Po nodded in agreement. "One… two… three!"

They both took a deep breath and went under.

Just like Tigress said, the only detail in the large room was an enormous mirror on the opposite wall. Po gestured to Tigress that he would go first into the room. He swam into the middle. No traps emerged.

As he gazed at his own reflection in the mirror, he saw as well as felt Tigress swim up and joined him. They glanced at each other, then returned their gazes to the mirror. There had to be a clue that involved the mirror, or the people who had built this place wouldn't have bothered installing it.

Eventually their breath ran out and they were forced to return to the surface. Po and Tigress gasped as they tread water: they had been underwater far longer than they had intended to be.

"Po…" Tigress panted. "Did you see anything… strange about the reflection?"

"No…" Po replied. "Wait till… I've got… my breath back…."

A long time passed before Po could breathe normally again.

"One… two…" Tigress counted down again. "… three!"

Back under water, Po gazed intently at the mirror. His brow furrowed in confusion. He saw nothing.

Tigress grabbed his shoulder, grabbing the panda's attention, and pointed upwards.

Po raised his eyes up to the upper part of the mirror… and blinked when he saw the hole in the ceiling within the reflection.

He turned his head and looked up at the real ceiling. No hole was existent. He looked back at the mirror.

What the heck?

In the mirror, he watched Tigress swim upwards towards the space on the ceiling where the hole was positioned in the reflection. He released a few bubbles in shock when he saw her climb through the hole and disappeared.

Po spun round under the water. No hole suddenly appeared in the ceiling, but Tigress had vanished.

Oh my gods! Where is she?

Po was on the verge of panicked when he saw an orange and black paw poke through the stone in the ceiling.

What the-

The paw gestured for him to come forward. Tentatively, Po reached out and grabbed the paw. He was pulled upwards and through the ceiling as if it was nothing more than thin air.

"Holy crap on a rice cracker!" Po exclaimed upon surfacing in the tiny, darkly lit corridor, finding himself face to face with Tigress. He looked down at the marble stone he was half-submerged in.

"Are you okay?" Tigress asked as she pulled him out.

"Am I okay?" Po's eyes bulged at her, then stared back down at the fake stone. "That's amazing! How the heck did they do that?"

"No idea, but it doesn't matter." Tigress chuckled a little at Po's reaction. "Look up there."

Po followed her finger, and saw the short corridor end and open up into a slightly larger room up ahead.

"Let's keep moving." The feline said. "Zanshi may be searching for the villagers as we speak."

Po suddenly stopped freaking out. After a moment's pause, he narrowed his eyes, nodded, and followed Tigress down the corridor.

In the middle of the room was a circular pedestal that rather resembled a cone. Sitting on top was a clear quartz disk engraved with the symbol Shui.

"Finally." Po sighed and lifted the disk… and leapt backwards in surprise as the wall in front of him and Tigress suddenly opened up, revealing a wide stone ladder that led down a narrow shaft.

"Let's go." Tigress reached the ladder first and started climbing. After a moment's hesitation, Po grabbed the marble rungs and followed her.

After a couple of minute's climbing, Po heard Tigress call up to him.

"Watch out Po, the ladder drops from the ceiling."

"How far is the drop?"

"You won't break your legs as long as you drop from the very bottom." Tigress replied.

Sure enough, Po's foot landed on thin air. He had reached the bottom of the ladder.

"Is it okay to drop from here?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I don't know." Po gulped. "I haven't mastered the basics of landing yet."

"Do you want me to catch you?" he heard the smirk in her voice.

Po frowned.

"A-are you sure?"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay, on three."

"Remember to actually count to three this time."

"Yes, Tigress."

Po felt an odd flip-flop sensation in his stomach when he heard her laugh at his mumbled reply.

"One… two… three!"

Po released his grip on the ladder and plummeted.

He only fell for a second before he felt Tigress's strong arms grab him.

"Oof!"

"Are you okay?" Po exclaimed, worried that she had injured herself breaking his fall."

"I'm fine." Tigress quickly set him down on the floor. "But Shifu's right. You really should start fasting."

Po nodded, his cheeks heating up. They had been doing that a lot lately.

He turned his eyes away from her, and realized that they were back in the room they had started off it.

"Have you still got the key?" Tigress asked.

Po nodded and held up the quartz disk.

"Good. Let's get the heck outta here."

"Here, here!"

Po and Tigress stepped back into the small tunnel. Po reached for the chain when Tigress stepped in front of him and started pulling instead.

"Tigress, what are you…"

"I still have to make up for the way I'd been treating you." Tigress said without looking at him.

Po watched her pull at the chain for a couple of seconds… before surprising her by grabbing the chain and pulling it with her.

"No you don't" he said bluntly.

"But-"

"For the last time, we've both been at fault." Said Po sternly. "You shouldn't have been so mean, and I shouldn't have yelled at you. Now let's leave it at that."

Tigress considered replying to that, but then returned to pulling the chain.